New research out of the Museum today is the first to provide definitive proof that green algae eat bacteria. The finding, captured with electron microscope images, offers a glimpse at how scientists think early organisms acquired free-living chloroplasts, the structures responsible for converting light into food. This event is thought to be a critical first step in the evolution of photosynthetic algae and land plants, which helped raise oxygen levels in Earth’s atmosphere and paved the way for the rise of animals.

While much of the Eastern seaboard is getting prepared for the coming of the 17-year periodical cicadas, Manhattanites may miss the show. (The cicadas have virtually never been recorded on this urban island.) But starting Wednesday, May 22, you can see periodical cicadas on the Upper West Side, here at the Museum.

The Museum's Youth Initiatives group has been developing a new Youth Advisory, a group to help us think about how to expand digital programs that teach science here at the Museum. The Youth Advisory's recent mission: to write a Want Ad that telegraphs what you want from digital-media infused science programs at the American Museum of Natural History.